Shoppers stop!

The government has finally opened multi-brand retail to foreign investment and the opposition parties have gone to town with protests. Some like the Trinamool and the DMK within the ruling coalition are also opposed to the move. The fears are the same old ones—that foreign retailers will come to India and wipe out the local kirana stores and lakhs of self-employed people will get unemployed. In the days to come, the opposition to the move would only get shriller. One can expect the usual form of protests—dharnas, bandhs, protest marches, etc—not only from the opposition parties but also from trade associations of local, unorganised retailers.

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